Victor W. Hwang
Founder of Victor & Company
Victor W. Hwang
Founder of Victor & Company
United States
Overview
Work Experience
Founder & CEO
2020 - Current
Right to Start is a campaign to expand entrepreneurial opportunity for all. We drive civic change through: grassroots organizing and mobilizing, policy advocacy and engagement, and lifting the voices of entrepreneurs through media and storytelling. The Atlantic magazine proclaimed Right to Start a "guide to the next America." www.righttostart.org
Founder & CEO
2020
Victor & Company is an economic growth consultancy. We build modern economies; accelerate innovation; catalyze entrepreneurship; expand capital formation and venture development; grow economic opportunity; build ecosystems to drive innovation and growth; spur global development; speed corporate innovation. We provide expertise in economic development, policy, innovation, entrepreneurship, design of accelerators, incubators, entrepreneur support programs, philanthropy innovation, workforce development, modernizing education, design thinking, innovation processes, stakeholder alignment, strategic planning, opportunity analysis, and conference design. www.victorh.co
Senior Advisor - Office of the U.S. Commerce Secretary
2021 - 2022
Served as Senior Advisor on entrepreneurship strategy in the U.S. Commerce Secretary's Office on the nonpartisan effort to design, select, organize, plan, and launch the National Advisory Council on Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Vice President of Entrepreneurship
2016 - 2019
Kauffman Foundation is the world's leading philanthropy for entrepreneurship, with an endowment of $2 billion. During my tenure as VP of Entrepreneurship, we impacted the lives of over 200,000 entrepreneurs in 200 cities. I led the development and implementation of the first-ever departmental strategy and the reorganization and rebuilding of a team from 11 to 31 full-time employees (plus 15 contractors). Among our accomplishments: • Organized over 1,200 entrepreneurial champions in 50 states and 10 countries to strengthen their programs through 3 summits and 100s of meetups through ESHIP Summit, ESHIP Communities, and ESHIP Playbook. (www.eshipsummit.org) • Engaged over 100 mayors and their staffs to implement new policies and practices to support entrepreneurs in the Mayors Conference. (https://mayorsconference.kauffman.org) • Published America's New Business Plan: a major bipartisan policy roadmap for America’s future, inspiring dozens of cities, states, and federal policy to adopt pro-entrepreneur policies, backed by over 100 coalition partners. (www.startusupnow.org) • Launched the Capital Access Lab: the first fund-of-funds to invest in catalyzing new, innovative funding models to reach underserved entrepreneurs. • Created the first research translation function for sharing actionable knowledge to eship practitioners. • Executed grants to almost 70 high-impact organizations to overcome barriers for thousands of underserved entrepreneurs. • Streamlined grantmaking systems by reducing steps by 2/3 and accelerating timelines by up to 50%. • Launched the online version of FastTrac entrepreneurial education, now reaching 140+ affiliates. • Built the first network of 54 foundations supporting entrepreneurs nationally. • Scaled 1 Million Cups from 60 to over 160 communities, to a higher level of engagement and quality, reaching 149,000 attendees per year.
Board Member
2015 - 2017
For over 30 years, Silicon Valley Forum has been a leading organization fostering innovation, entrepreneurship, and leadership. The organization has a long history of creating successful events, programs and conferences that educate, train, inspire, and connect technologists, entrepreneurs, corporates, investors, innovation and startup hubs, and students—in Silicon Valley, throughout the U.S., and globally.
CEO and Co-Founder
2005 - 2016
A unique Silicon Valley venture studio that began as a startup accelerator and investor and transformed into an innovation design firm that assisted entrepreneurial growth for cities, regions, states, companies, and nations: • Pioneered the metaphor of a “rainforest” for growing innovation ecosystems, based on principles derived from natural sciences, design thinking, and complex systems. Published several books that provide a framework for fostering systemic, sustainable economic competitiveness in communities and organizations. • Led creation of portfolio of startup companies in variety of sectors, including information technologies, life sciences, and cleantech. • Clients included the World Bank, Microsoft, Accenture, Inter-American Development Bank, U.S. Economic Development Administration, U.S. Agency for International Development, and others.
Co-Founder
2010 - 2016
WINNER: TECHCRUNCH DISRUPT NY 2015 Developed the world's most powerful filter for creating safe drinking water. No chemicals, no electricity, no pumping or pressure required. The company was started by a dream team of leading executives, scientists, and engineers. The Liquidity filter is a 3D-printed nanofiber structure that traps harmful microbes as they pass through. The result: water that's bacteria free, hassle free, and additive free. CEO, October 2014 to February 2016 CFO, February 2010 to October 2014 Board Member, February 2010 to February 2016
Executive Director
2011 - 2015
The world's greatest gathering of builders of innovation ecosystems. Over 1,000 delegates from 50 countries seeking to accelerate innovation and entrepreneurial action across companies, communities, and countries. More than a conference... It's a living laboratory for designing new solutions to big challenges. We believe in the power of innovation ecosystems to uplift the human condition.
Author
2012 - 2012
BOOK OF THE YEAR, Gold Medal in Business & Economics, ForeWord Reviews What makes places like Silicon Valley tick? Can we replicate that magic in other places? How do you foster innovation in your own networks? The Rainforest proposes a radical new way to explain the nature of innovation ecosystems: human networks that generate extraordinary creativity and output. See the website at http://www.therainforestbook.com.
Chief Strategy Officer
2005 - 2007
Startup technology company spinning out of the University of Kansas commercializing video search technology. Led acquisition of company by DivX, Inc.
Education
A.B. with Honors
1989 - 1993
J.D.
1993 - 1996